When Gaston the Second arrived at Auradon Prep, the first thing he found was a mirror. After all, what was the use of coming to the good side if he couldn't find a decent reflective surface to look at himself? The other villains, the three who came over with him and the four who had originally come, rolled their eyes at him, but left him be. He knew why he was here and it was mostly for all the food he could stuff in his mouth and to prove that he was better than his brother, the third.
Auradon treated Gaston the Second well. He joined the tourney team with Jay and together, the two of them could make even a grown man scream in fright. He was getting by in all of his classes, even Remedial Goodness after Mal's tip: choose the least fun activity. Girls seemed to clamor to him, just the way his father told him that the townspeople used to do for him. In fact, he had gotten several girls' numbers and was well on his way to getting their panties too, in his opinion.
The first time he met Melody, eldest daughter of Ariel and Eric, he wasn't impressed. She had somehow tripped over his large feet; strike one. On top of that, it happened to be while he was eating his second lunch; strike two. And to complete the picture, it was in the middle of the cafeteria so of course he had to play the good guy and help her up even though it was her fault; strike three and she was out.
That's why when he ran into the obnoxious mermaid's daughter, quite literally, for a second time a few weeks later, he was less than pleased. The mirror that he had been holding and staring into, shattered as it fell to the floor. She barely looked up from her book long enough to realize that he was glaring down at her. He was beyond pissed but her cowering somehow made him angrier. She knelt down to help clean up the pieces while he watched. He may be passing Remedial Goodness, but he certainly wasn't going to clean up this mess that wasn't his fault in the first place.
"You think you help here? It was your mirror and you weren't paying attention either," came an irritated voice from below him.
Looking down, he found brown doe eyes glaring up at him. "Of course I'm not going to. You should have looked out for me."
"Then clean it up yourself!" She stood and stormed off.
The hallway, which was filled with princes and princesses, remained deadly silent. Gaston, in shock, wondered where the little brat got off thinking that he would stoop down to clean up the mess.
"Oh, Gaston, don't worry, we'll take care of that for you," came the sweet, honey-like voices of a few of his followers.
He grinned, that was how a girl was supposed to act. Still, it was strange to be treated like that by a woman, especially one as attractive as the mermaid's daughter.
Months passes and Gaston the second was finally comfortable as Auradon, with no intention of ever going back to the Isle. Something about this place had captured him. Sure, maybe he wasn't the 'good-est' person around, but even Mal, the sure-to-be queen of sunshine and happily-ever-afters, wasn't good all the time and she had been here the longest along with the other three originals.
However, one blip in this newly perfect life was of course, the same obnoxious mermaid's daughter that, somehow, kept popping up at the worst times. Like now, for example, the two of them had somehow managed to get paired up for a partner project in Auradon history class. She was excited, already planning which books she would need from the library, but Gaston straight up told her that he hated history. And if her passionate speech about loving knowledge and the past hadn't changed his mind, maybe it convinced him to at least go to the library with her.
He hadn't touched a mirror in a week and his roommate jokingly asked if he was sick. He was something alright and Gaston was just about ready to blame it on illness. Anything to get him away from that obnoxious mermaid's daughter. Melody. Even her name caused the same indigestion that had plagued him all week. Maybe a sick day wouldn't be so bad after all.
When he next spoke to his brother, Gaston the third, Gaston the second had been at Auradon for a year and dating Melody for almost three months. His brother immediately recognized that something had changed in him but, still living on the island, he didn't understand. Concern was frowned upon with villains but the second son just had to know what was wrong with his brother.
"What's the matter, a pretty princess seduce you?" he jokingly asked.
Gaston the second smiled ruefully. "Less seducing, more kicking and screaming."
"What?!" Gaston the third was flabbergasted. His brother, captured by a prissy princess of Auradon? What had the world come to that they used to argue about how many girls chased after them and here he admitted to being seduced?
"Yeah, I gotta admit it. I'm in love with an obnoxious mermaid's daughter."
"What's it like?" The question came out more seriously than the third Gaston intended, but he couldn't let his curiosity go.
His brother smiled. "It's like I want to stare at her instead of myself."
Another year later, Gaston the second had finally met his princess's parents, who seemed wary but happy that their daughter was happy. And if another year later he came up to them for their blessing, well, they knew that he wouldn't be turning evil anytime soon.